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As I watch the huge throng along the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial celebrating the Obama Inauguration, my own emotional feeling about the historic event is coming clear. This transfer of power to this gifted man and my party is the culmination of many years of effort on the part of millions of people so that a Barack Obama with all his obvious skills could achieve a goal he so richly deserves. As I was on election eve, my emotions are at the surface. So much promise, and such a challenge, riding on the back of one man who seems to grasp that fact without flinching. I believe America, as in the past, has been blessed by a leader to confront it's greatest problems but also, as always, it's time for millions more to join the effort at every level. Despite all the difficulty and darkness ahead, I like so many Americans and citizens around the world, look forward with hope and optimism to a better day.

Rather than continuing his pattern of trying to become history reincarnate (something which is likely spurred by his lack of actual personal, non-electoral achievement), President-elect Obama should use his inaugural address to speak directly to the American people not as a messianic or "transformational" figure, but as the first among equals in position and in actual hope -- not "hope" the slogan, but optimistic hope of the sort that characterized Ronald Reagan's leadership over two decades ago.

Reagan knew that whatever troubles America faced could be overcome not by government, but by the American people themselves, with their indomitable spirit of entrepreneurship, ingenuity, and ruggedly individualistic refusal to fail. If president-elect Obama needs to internalize this lesson from one of the greatest presidents in American history, and can act on it rather than repeating the poll-watching, decision-avoidance mistakes of the man who held the office two presidencies later, he can create a successful term for himself in the Oval Office, thereby relieving himself of the need to constantly try to put his own face on poor-man's recreations the successes of others.

Rather than bitterly clinging to the historically disproven notion that "only government" can pull America out of whatever perceived doldrums she may be in economically, socially, internationally, or anywhere else, Obama should embrace the spirit of optimism, of survival, and of free enterprise that has for so long made this country and its people the leaders of the free world and the most prosperous nation on earth. If he were to begin setting that tone with Tuesday's inaugural address, promising that a light at the end of the tunnel will shortly be in sight, and that he will ensure that government gets out of the way and allows that recovery to be realized, he would be starting off on the right foot what could well be a historic presidency on its own merits.

Obama needs to do many things. Among them is to outline a new relationship between the federal government and citizens--both in terms of what government can do for Americans and what citizens can do for government. For several decades, the philosophy about this relationship has been the one defined by conservatives who were part of the Reagan Revolution. If this is to really be the start of something new and Obama wants to provide a framework for what he will propose in the coming months, this component of the speech will be essential.

President Obama’s international audience next Tuesday will be many times larger than his American audience. It will also be overwhelmingly sympathetic: in many countries, after all, he was the preferred candidate for president by ratios of four and five to one.

Obama should directly address the people of the world, especially those watching from the margins. He should signal that he understands that America is strongest when it is open to the world, and promise that he will be deaf to the siren songs of isolationism and protectionism. He should sign up his long-distance listeners to a new compact: that Washington will work to solve global problems through multilateral means, and that in turn, other capitals will make sure that multilateralism works. If the new president can do all this, then his inaugural address will turn out to be a powerful source of American prestige and power.

I hope he acknowledges how surprisingly warm it is outside on Tuesday, because I plan to be there and am hoping that conditions are tolerable. I've been to my share of December-January Philadelphia Eagles games (go Birds!), and so I'm equipped and prepared, but it's not likely to be pleasant outside.

As for the substance of the speech, I hope that it reflects the fact that his work -- and the work of all of us as citizens -- is just getting started, and I look forward to seeing if and how Obama's legion of online and offline supporters becomes an effective lobbying group for his agenda.

I have high expectations for our new president's address, for he is one of our country's great orators. He will inspire, he will show his and America's core values, and he will ask for our help in facing the awesome challenges in front of us. President Obama, I trust, will acknowledge some difficult truths about war and about the economy. He will describe how America will work for peace, but he will also show that we will defend ourselves and our allies against those who would do us harm. He will not make a policy speech, but he will shine a bright light on the direction in which he will lead us toward economic recovery.

I hope President Obama will stimulate admiration around the world for America's capacity to be a force for positive change. I very much hope that he will inspire our co-citizens to join with him in restoring our confidence in the future and in our ability to work for progress.

We need a true call for sacrifice. No time for sugar coating. Everybody’s got to give. But the new boss has got to ask. Hard times demand hard choices. And President-elect Obama has to level-set expectations between what he promised during the campaign and what is now possible, realistic and pragmatic. He’ll take some heat, but easier to fade it now when he’s got the helium of historic approval ratings to keep him afloat.

In short, he’ll need to give hope a haircut.

President Bush has been incredibly gracious during the transition and Obama should return the gesture during his remarks by acknowledging that despite their differences, they share a core sense of decency and humanity.

I would like to see the president set forth that we ready to make common cause with the other countries and peoples of the world to solve the problems that beset us. That instead of thinking that we can make rules for everyone else (and not follow them ourselves) we chart a new course where we genuinely try to listen to other points of view and work with others countries co-operatively. The world would welcome a signal that our “go it alone” “if you’re not for us you’re against us” philosophy is a thing of the past.

One of the most frightening aspects of our foreign policy over the last few years is the example it set. After all, if pre-emptive war was OK for us, why not for all? If torture was OK for us, why not for everybody? If we felt we were exempt from the rules we thought others should follow, why shouldn’t every country feel a similar contempt for those rules. Obama has an opportunity to set a new tone that says, yes, we will exert leadership, but without the bluster, bullying, and “my way or the highway “ attitude that was the hallmark of the only-72-hours-left-as-I-write-this administration.

Very few inaugural addresses over the last 20 years have been memorable. Then again, we have not faced the breadth and depth of challenges as a nation that we face this January 20th. It is time to not only invoke the kind of soaring rhetoric and ideals that served Barack Obama so well in the campaign, but to call the nation to a higher cause, the way FDR and JFK did. This speech should, if done in typical Obama fashion, have themes and lines that will be remembered for generations. This Monday, Martin Luther King Day, more than 10,000 organizations will provide Americans with the chance to volunteer and give of their time and energy, double the number of last year.

The Obama Presidency should be a call to service, to ideals that have been abandoned during the economic crisis, of behavior representing greed and irresponsibility. And service to others, helping one another when it is needed most in the toughest of times. If there ever was a time to call on the American people to act to help one another to rekindle the values that have built this nation, that time is now. If there ever was a time to inspire confidence that we can overcome the current crisis, that time is now. Service. Personal responsibility. Overcoming fear. Inspiration. My guess is that Obama will touch all of them.

Kudos to the NTSB on their response to this latest US Air accident and all the other fine work they have done these past 8 years. NTSB is led by Mark V. Rosenker the now acting Chair. Mr. Rosenker is a retired 2 star general and was Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office from 2001-2003. If every agency of our government ran as smoothly and efficiently as the NTSB, we would be in much better shape than we are today. Congratulations to the men and women of NTSB!

Most Americans, I think, hope that President Obama will put his eloquence into high gear for his inaugural address and use it to inspire us, to recall us to our highest national ideals, and to explain where he plans to lead us in the future. This is a wonderful opportunity for him to put flesh on the bones of his themes of hope and change.

The challenge is to speak substantively without turning the speech into a workaday laundry list of programs, initiatives, issues, and tactics. In other words, it should be a whole lot more uplifting than the speech he gave at the Democratic nomination, which was mundane.

We long to be renewed, rejuvenated, re-energized. We long to believe that the future will be better than the recent past. He has the bully pulpit and he has the rhetorical skill to do what we all hope he will do. We await his speech with high anticipation.

Transitions are celebratory, sometimes heroic, moments. Barack Obama’s challenge will be to put America back on track. After an aberrational decade in which American values have been derailed by classic sins, hubris and greed, he must set a new course rooted in historic American values. His appeal should be to the better angels of our nature; his goal should be to uplift our souls and point to philosophical moorings that reflect concern and respect for all peoples of the planet. The country faces difficult choices. A call should be made for a new fairness, a renewed commitment to law and justice.

This should be a speech about values rather than programs; the future rather than the past, except where expressions of change are symbolically imperative, as in closing Guantanomo and committing to draw down a war. It should also be a speech that notes what is hopeful and beckoning in our history. While we are obligated to learn from our missteps, we are nonetheless unprecedentedly fortunate to be able to build on the service and sacrifice of those who came before.

Finally, I do not think he should shy away from announcing that he is immediately directing envoys be dispatched to help mediate between Palestinians and Israelis and note that he is prepared to authorize diplomatic engagement with countries with whom we differ, from Iran to North Korea to Cuba. Shunning is ideological posturing; realism demands engagement.

I want President Obama to invoke the miracle of the jet that crashed in the Hudson River without a single life lost. I want him to use this as a metaphor for what America can be again. A place where highly-trained professionals like the pilot use their best judgment, and we can rely on the well-educated brainpower of Americans to secure our future. A country where dedicated public servants take their work seriously and are always prepared to serve. A nation where miracles can still happen because of the talents of our people and our ability to work together across divides, and under the most challenging circumstances, to make a difference.

I hope President Obama will speak to the fact that the American people -- working, saving, and investing to achieve the American Dream in a free-market economy -- are ultimately the source of economic prosperity, not the Federal government in Washington.

It will be interesting to see if the new president Obama can match or exceed the brilliance of the speech he delivered after winning the Iowa Caucus last year. (And I bet he will.) Because if there was ever a time that Americans need an uplifting message about unity and about working together to solve the nation's problems, it is now. To President Bush, who appears to be truly appreciative of this moment in history, Obama can be expected to be equally gracious.

President Obama will almost certainly be gracious toward President Bush but he should avoid being disingenuously complimentary. What he can do is thank President Bush for his unprecedented steps to ease the transition process and help put the new Administration in a position to get off to a strong start. As for the core of his inaugural address, Obama should follow his own instincts and record of rising rhetorically to the occasion. I look for a calming and reassuring voice on dealing with our immediate economic problems and an inspirational call to come together as a country to grapple with the central challenges that confront us and the world. We are unlikely to be disappointed.

President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office at a pivotal moment in American history. After eight years of the Bush administration, our middle class is in decline, poverty is increasing, the national debt is at an all time high, and millions of Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, their health care, their ability to go to college, and their savings.

In fact, as a nation, we face the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. While American prestige is at an all-time low within the international community, our over-stretched military is fighting two wars simultaneously while al Qaeda and the terrorist organizations are on the rise.

From an environmental perspective, global warming is a growing threat to the planet and we have barely begun to make the energy revolution we need, away from fossil fuels and toward energy independence, renewable energy, and a more sustainable economy. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that, in Barack Obama, the American people have elected a new president who is not only extremely intelligent, but has, I believe, extraordinary leadership qualities and a real sense of history.

He understands where we are today and has a vision of where we have to go in the future. He is also very personable and a great communicator.

Perhaps most importantly, he has not forgotten how he won the election. He understands that to be a successful president he must continue to rally grassroots America to help him stand up to the powerful special interests that have had so much influence in Washington for so many years.

These are extremely difficult times for the American people and I am optimistic that with a new president and an involved population, we can, in fact, turn the country around and move us in a direction of which we are all proud.

I would hope to hear him reaffirm his commitment and the Country's commitment to Social Security and Medicare. There are powerful interest groups that have sought to dismantle these programs for decades and many are now seizing on the current economic crisis as a pretext to accomplish this goal. President-elect Obama's comments at the Washington Post yesterday are being interpreted as supporting this goal.

The reality is that Social Security is in solid shape. The Congressional Budget Office's latest projections show that it can pay all scheduled benefits through the year 2049 with no changes whatsoever and that it would always be able to pay a much higher benefit
than current retirees receive even if nothing is ever done to alter the program.

Medicare does face problems, but that is only because of the inefficiency of the U.S. health care system. We pay more than twice as much per person for our health care as people in Germany, Canada, England and other wealthy countries, all of whom enjoy longer life expectancies than us. If Mr. Obama can successfully reform our health care system, then Medicare's costs will be manageable. (If not, we can save enormous amounts of money by just allowing seniors to buy into the health care systems of other countries.)

After the collapse in home values and the stock market, Social Security and Medicare will be more important than ever to the nation's elderly. President Obama should clearly state his commitment to protecting these programs.

During Christmastime I took a day to read all the past inaugural addresses. It was worth it just to find out how unmemorable the vast majority were. Most Presidents have wasted their inaugurals with warmed over campaign boilerplate, too much detail about transient issues, and flowery rhetoric filled with stale allusions to the Greeks and the Romans. The only inaugural addresses worth recalling are Washington's second (for its marvelous brevity), Jefferson's first, Lincoln's second, FDR's first, and--the gold standard--John F. Kennedy's. (If you're a history buff, you might enjoy this essay.

Obama's inaugural is so freighted with significance that it will always be remembered even if the speech is pedestrian. But given Obama's powerful delivery, he can rival JFK if he avoids leaden specificity (that's what the State of the Union is for) and gives people timely commentary in a form that is timeless. Most of JFK's speech is completely relevant forty-eight years later. Obama may inevitably cite Lincoln and Martin Luther King (and FDR and JFK), but the speech must be his. He's not the second Lincoln or King or Roosevelt or Kennedy; he's the first Obama. And while he won't mention Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford, we'll probably get a repeat of the congratulations for a terrific transition. It's true, it's feel-good bipartisan, and it's a sure-fire applause line. In 1977 Carter's salute to Ford generated the the most enthusiastic ovation of the afternoon.

I hope that President Obama’s speech projects the humility of a person who is making American history. He will be outstanding with his exceptional speaking skills, but it now be important to switch from campaign style rhetoric to even more of a presidential leadership style delivery. Must and should be bipartisan without too many details that could be used for the State of the Union Speech. It should definitely not be like the speech in Berlin where it looked like he was trying too hard to convince the world he is a future leader.

Bonus question: President Obama should thank President Bush for keeping America safe since the September 11th attacks since that will be his true legacy.

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office as 44th President of the United States, this happy, hopeful, and humble moment will speak eloquently to all people - especially children - that with clear vision, hard work, and dedication to others, we can aim for the stars and reach our fullest human potential. When he makes his speech, I hope Obama will translate his moment into our moment with a call to service urging all Americans to become part of something larger than ourselves through shared sacrifice, shared activism, and a shared destiny.

I hope Obama renews his campaign promises - jobs, universal health care, energy independence, civil rights and civil liberties, an end to the war in Iraq, and support for our veterans. These are the tough choices we elected him to make, the changes he must deliver, and the standards by which we will measure his Presidency. I anticipate that Obama will weave in references to Michelle and his family, to his heroes (MLK and Lincoln), and to his adversaries. Obama will likely praise outgoing President George W. Bush for his kindness and professionalism during the transition, and for his and Laura's public service. Throughout Obama's speech, I will revel in the big-D Democratic success of my Party and marvel in the little-d democratic triumph of my country - a hard-fought yet peaceful transition of power through ballots not bullets that remains the envy of the world. After the multitudes have left the Mall, the test of Obama's Inaugural Address will not be his rhetoric - we know it will soar - but the staying power of his call to service as he (and we) live up to the responsibility to transform its promises into the change we need.

I would like to think that the Inaugural Address would reflect my own political values and priorities, but since that isn't going to happen, let's at least have a President who will do what Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid have manifestly failed to do; genuinely reach out to Republicans. The Speaker is working to shut Republicans out of the legislating process and Senator Reid is one of the most hyperpartisan people in Washington today. Let's see if President-elect Obama decides to be genuinely conciliatory towards Republicans and in doing so, let's see if he has the courage to speak out against the Pelosi/Reid power grab as being precisely the wrong way to respond to the supposedly changed mood in Washington (we should note, in fairness, that Nancy Pelosi seems to have a lot of Democrats mad at her as well).

President Bush should be thanked for making tough decisions in good faith and for keeping us safe since 9/11. And perhaps people who think that the service of a President of the United States is not deserving of even the merest mention of gratitude ought to brush up on their social graces. Just sayin'.

President Obama’s Inaugural Address should turn President Kennedy’s on its head. He should renounce the global military footprint of the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in scores of other countries that are making the country less safe, less free, less respected, and less wealthy. He should declare that he will begin the withdrawal of all American troops from abroad for redeployment in the United States, including from bases in Japan, South Korea, and Germany. He should recant his folly of pledging an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, as futile and as hazardous as the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. He should pledge that the exclusive mission of the United States under the Constitution is to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, not to race abroad in search of monsters to destroy in the name of humanitarian intervention or otherwise. We are not smart enough or virtuous enough to transform Iraq or Afghanistan into functioning secular democracies that celebrate the rule of law when their political cultures are at the pre-Magna Carta (1215) state of development.

President Kennedy bugled: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge—and more.” Then came the Bay of Pigs, government orchestrated attempts to assassinate foreign leaders, the unconstitutional Gulf of Tonkin Resolution fueled by presidential misrepresentations, the Vietnam War, spying and disruption of war dissenters, government secrecy and deceit, spiraling taxes and expenditures, and frontal attacks on the rule of law. Obama should declare that humility and self-restraint will be the earmarks of his national security policy—a return to the expectations and practices of the Founding Fathers. The goal of the United States is not to dominate the world—except by force of example.

After September 11, 2001, there was a yearning in this nation to do something for the greater good, to act in sync with the civic mass, to sacrifice for a greater cause. President Bush fumbled that opportunity. But the yearning that 9/11 inspired, even if latent during the middle years of the decade, was seeded and has been on the verge of flowering. Obama's candidacy watered and fertilized it. I expect President Obama to summon it into the light.

One of Obama's consistent rhetorical strategies has been to link his personal narrative ("skinny kid with a funny name") with the myth of the American dream ("in no other country is my story even possible") and then to expand that further by linking our contemporary challenges with the great achievements of American history--the American Revolution, the Underground Railroad, Women's suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement. That's the power behind the the slogan "Yes, We Can." I expect him to continue in this vein, to call each and every citizens to the cause of American history and renewal, to carry on and continue the American story.

Americans expect, furthermore, for the incoming president to extend gratitude to the outgoing president. President Bush is only the second man in history to succeed his father in the office of the presidency. I expect President Obama will acknowledge this special fact in the annals of American government and thank them both for their service.

I would like the new president to thank Americans for rising above race--not an easy thing for many older people--and thus exalting us in the eyes of a skeptical world. And yes, he should thank Mr. Bush for yet again making a peaceful transition in power one of the singular accomplishments of America.

I hope that President Obama picks one issue that Republicans particularly care about like school choice or more nuclear power and that he reaches out to Republicans by indicating a substantial willingness to work with them on that issue. I think school choice and nuclear power are the best issues to pick because in both cases Republican reforms would really help address severe national problems in a selfless way which is not the case with tax cuts. In thanking President Bush, I think President Obama should mention Bush’s vigilance and success in protecting the country from a second attack at home after 9/11.

My fellow Americans. It's a new day, so let's ignore those editorial suggestions to criminalize the policy decisions that the last crowd made. And let's REALLY try to do what President Bush, President Clinton and all their predecessors failed to do -- restore civility to Washington politics. Ask not if our predecessors were crooks; ask whether we can disagree without rancor. As a matter of fact, ask not anything; speak normal English and don't ask. That's one rhetorical touch, two policy suggestions and one plea to avoid ornate oratorical flourishes. The rest of the speech is up to the President. May we all wish him well.

The President-elect should make clear that his prime mission is to reverse the decline of the middle class and help create the conditions for an entrepreneur-led revival. He must be clear he is President not only of the urban, minority and youth constituencies but also of those parts of the country - the South, Appalachia, the Intermountain West- that did not support him.

As for President Bush, he should thank him for his service and gracious exit, which might be the best thing he ever did.

I share Joel's hope that Obama's policies will benefit the middle class, though his real emphasis should be on the working poor, but I hope he'll acknowledge that many of the tax policies Obama campaigned for are the surest ways to quash entrepreneurs and the "entrepreneur-led" recovery that Joel is planning on. Second-time taxing of the fruits of their lives' success at 45 percent (the death tax), as Obama recently confirmed, is not a good start, nor is his campaign promise to hit the same aspirants with almost all of the burden of closing Medicare and Social Security deficits. There's nothing quite like a 60+ percent (combined federal, state and local) effective marginal tax rate to suppress the entrepreneurial spirit.

As a former speechwriter, I'm looking forward to some soaring rhetoric; I like being inspired. My fear is that he will offer a big-government liberal agenda cloaked in the same fraudulent "unity" gauze as his campaign. So my hope is that he will reference unity in the pragmatic terms of his post-election transition, and talk about solving our problems with something other than government employees and soak-the-rich taxation. I also hope he will repeat Bill Clinton's memorable act of inaugural graciousness, when he thanked George H. W. Bush for his years of service to his country. Last night our 43rd president gave a heartfelt farewell that should shame those who ever questioned his motives or his devotion to America's people; for all his foibles, he deserves recognition from the 44th, who now seems likely to continue in one form or another many of the policies he cynically vilified in the campaign.

He should say that freedom is what has made America great - truly the greatest country on earth. He should say that it may be possible to spend our way out of - oh my gosh, eight percent unemployment!!!! - but only at a very high cost for our future; that the New Deal failed to alleviate the Great Depression, and there's not much more that government can do now. He should say that we can't go on shielding our eyes from our unfunded future liabilities, and that the Democratic party's unyielding opposition to any effort to reform Social Security has been a mistake.

He should point out that laws and regulations are not magic wands that can solve all our problems, and admit that government regulation - not deregulation, but bad regulation - helped to create the current economic situation. He should point out that no amount of regulation can make unethical people ethical, or prevent all government scandal, and we shouldn't sacrifice our freedoms in the pursuit of that and other chimerical goals.

He should say that the cold, uncaring, bureaucratic hand of the state can never really substitute for the bonds of family, church, and private charity. He should say that peaceful Americans deserve the right to make their own choices, to live their own lives, to pursue their own version of happiness - and that means the right to smoke, to own guns, to live with the persons of their choosing, and not to live with people they don't want to live with - in short, to do what they please so long as they respect the rights of others to do the same. He should say that his goal is not to tell us how to run our lives, but to let us live our own lives, with minimal government interference.

He should say... oh wait... I get it - you mean within the broad parameters of what he actually might say, what should he say. Well, in that case, never mind.

Except that obviously he should thank President Bush for his service to the country, and being a good and gracious man, obviously he will.

I hope he touches on the need to embrace “social innovation” at this challenging time in our nation’s history. President Obama discussed the possible creation of a new Office of Social Entrepreneurship on the campaign trail. Here’s hoping he makes that happen, since we’re facing an unprecedented need and opportunity to better utilize all of our resources – financial and human – to help solve societal problems. Groups like Root Cause and others are identifying innovative models in the public, private and nonprofit space that can and should be replicated to efficiently and effectively address workforce training and job creation and education and hunger and energy, to name but a few. Just as we’ve identified strong models for government to create stable societies and for business to generate wealth, it is within this Administration’s grasp to do the same to advance social innovation. January 20th would be a great place to begin.

I hope to hear less majestic rhetoric about sallying forth to repair the rest of the world's ills, and to hear some honest, straightforward ideas for putting our house in order here at home. He shouldn't thank President Bush, but he undoubtedly will.

President Obama in his Inaugural Address must be a uniter. He may not have been my choice, but he is my President and I want him to succeed. He also must be hopeful and visionary in his approach to governing. America wants to be challenged and he needs to inspire the hopeful change he promised. With regard to President Bush, he should be gracious and recognize that he is a good, decent and honorable man, who tried his best and always had the very best intentions for all of America.

Now I cannot resist a political observation, President Obama’s Inaugural Speech should be lofty and idealistic. The Inaugural Speech then should be followed up within a week’s time, to a Speech before a Joint Session of Congress, where he can lay out in very detailed terms his plan of action for governing and his call to action, both for Congress and the American People. The Joint Session Speech should be followed within one week’s time, by an Address to the UN General Assembly in New York. That speech should be geared to the World Community and should set forth the President’s vision for how the United States will conduct its Foreign Policy under an Obama Administration. By making these three major speeches within two week’s of his taking office, he sets the stage both domestically and internationally for his Administration. As someone who helped plan the first 100 days of President George W. Bush’s Administration, I know how important a successful beginning can be.

What Americans need most right now is hope for the future. Consumer spending represents two-thirds of our national economy and if President Obama can make people confident enough to keep spending, he will have made meaningful progress towards righting the ship. The complication is how do you make people hopeful when everyone knows unemployment is rising, our deficit has moved above one trillion dollars, and we are fighting two wars around the world? That is Obama’s major test of leadership: keeping people focused on the future despite a present that looks pretty grim.

That we are committed to fairness and the Rule of Law, and that as Americans we are in this together – all of us – not just either party’s base or those who voted.

As for Obama’s remarks about George W. Bush, the less said the better, but the truth is that it doesn’t matter. As a gracious and eloquent speaker, I’m sure the right thing will be said. However, Obama being in and Bush being out is so much more important than that, and in this case the visual is the message.

Thanking Bush: In his farewell address the president rightly emphasized that these efforts were necessary. Since 9/11, a number of plots have been foiled aimed at killing Americans on American soil—some linked to al Qaeda; others inspired by their actions; some only sharing a horrific ideology that any cause should be advanced by the deliberate intentional murder of innocents. Likewise, America’s friends and allies around the world, from the people of Iraq to Europe and Southwest Asia have been targeted for attack.

Thanks to serious and effective counterterrorism programs, the U.S and its allies have become “harder” targets for transnational terrorists. Plots have been thwarted; leaders killed or captured; networks attacked and the flow of money and recruits disrupted. The president rightly concluded, “There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions. But there can be little debate about the results. America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil. This is a tribute to those who toil night and day to keep us safe -- law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts, homeland security and diplomatic personnel, and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.”

For Obama speech: It is the mission of this generation of Americans in solidarity with our global friends and allies to finish the job—frustrating forever the ambitions of those who would use the instrument of transnational terrorism to dictate terms to the rest of the world.

Edward Stroligo (guest)
Writer , NY:

Let's think outside the box. How about this for an inaugural address:
"We have all talked enough. Now it's time to act; America can't wait any longer. I must get back to the White House, now. I have work to do. House, Senate, get back into session, now. You do, too. Let us do first, then talk."
Wouldn't something like this be more dramatic and have a deeper impact on the average American than any inaugural speech?

Stefan Saal (guest)
sculptor , NH:

I hope to hear that we are going to stop running around the world telling everyone else how to live, and work instead on getting our own house in order. To the former president: "Thanks for nuthin'."

Phil Gonzalez (guest)
retired , TX:

Courtesy is always the best policy. Being a man of God President Obama should give thanks to see the day people dream of when their children. President Obama should acknowledge what a great country his lives in with a people who has no problem with electing a black man to be President. Next, he should ask for the patience President Bush did in fighting terrorism, in his Presidency. There's nothing wrong in giving credit for the things President Obama won't have to deal with. Great obstacles were removed by President Bush and the troops. Obstacles that President's shouldn't have to deal with, but thank goodness we had a President who was willing to make the tough decisions. It's difficult to talk about hope and change if this was a country torn by car bombs, suicide bombers, and kidnappings in protest of the war in Iraq. President Bush made it possible for President Obama to talk about such things. President Obama should then thank President Bush and our troops for living in a country who was able to maintain their standard of living without having to fight a war on home soil. Business as usual never would have been possible had President Bush listened to his critics and international opinion about fighting a war against terrorism. We can be grateful we had a President who allowed us to begin where we are now and nows the time to show President Bush and our troops it's OK to leave office with the safety you have provided us and it's OK for the troops to come home for a job well done.

Luke Maffei (guest)
Communications Consultant , CA:

It seems like a lot of the Arena's contributors are making great suggestions for his State of the Union, but I would like him to stay away from policy specifics in his inaugural address. As a student of rhetoric, I know the place in history this speech is guaranteed to occupy. In crafting it, Obama should be looking to us, the word, AND the beginning of his legacy. A list of wonkish policy proposals will seem out of place and (as he has been accused of before) "professorial" when he needs to be transcendent. To address the list of wonkish policy proposals, their seems no one who would like him to pay lip service to a controversy of his own making? I'll wait for the State of the Union to hear about tax plans and social security. If he stands up, however, in his inaugural address after Rick Warren has spoken without articulating his commitment to freedom for LGBT people to form & protect our families, serve our country, and do our jobs (if he fails to acknowledge, however subtly, the assault Warren committed against freedom this year) -- then he will be choosing to pour gasoline on a fire!

Mark Sullivan (guest)
writer , RI:

Obama's first inaugural should be informed by a message of conciliation. Since the '60s, America has become increasing contentious, both at home and abroad. The Cold War and a procession of Middle Eastern conflicts have informed our international profile since Vietnam and made us seem increasingly presumptuous and belligerent, while race, class and gender discord have divided our communities, and intermittent periods of economic distress, and a procession of fractious political controversies and crises, have bedeviled our national discourse throughout our homeland and nurtured a culture of rank incivility for all the world to see and to emulate.

It is time for America to realize its potential. It will take time to resolve a half-century's worth of petty errancy, to open our collective mind and set aside the inclination to place self-interest above the common good. This will entail sacrifice, but sacrifice in the service of cooperation is a vector for peace and prosperity. We have the means and the ability to cultivate what Tom Wolfe called a Pax Americana--an era of repair and accomplishment. But it is up to us to lead the way, not through strength, but through example.

LINDA CONLEY (guest)
HOMEMAKER/READER , OR:

I only hope Obama's rhetoric for the inauguration remains of this earth. Tell us the facts about what he believes government is for, no cloaked, feel-good words like tax-credits that stand for little more than more welfare handouts; let him be direct over what the Obama government will do for we the people. Enough with Obama as the New Messiah or Spiderman the left and the frenzied media portray him to be. Keep the rhetoric low-key so as not to fool us anymore.

Obama, dear man, spent not a single minute as president. He has yet to deal with the Democrat Congress, a loud, unruly, me-first group of individuals with his or her own huge Ego and Agenda to greet our new president. I can hear the implosion in the not too distant future. It's the Progressives now, folks, the people who know what's right for us. Give up your liberties, let us take care of you, tell you what to eat, what to wear, which car to drive! Oh, and what temperature to put your thermostat on each day. And what to do with that unwanted pregnancy, you know, that burden. This is all good solid honest rhetoric for our new president. There is no point in reminding Obama that the United States is a country whose history is based upon the genius of the individual inventor and on entrepreneurial skills and not dependent on or desirous of, a welfare state. Obama need only reverse John Kennedy's inaugural words (a Dem who actually lowered our taxes!) to get the gist of his whole program correct: ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you. It's this reverse mentality of all our country stands for -- the pursuit of happiness, of individual dreams -- that sunk the European nannie-state economy for decades now. Finally, I hope Obama thanks Mr Bush for his efforts to keep our country virtually terrorist-free for nearly seven years, thus enabling the left to keep propped its relentless Bush derangement syndrome until the moment he's gone.

Dameon Proctor (guest)
Consultant , DC:

President Obama should speak on all of the obvious issues, but more importantly he should speak on the following things:
1. DC having a full vote in congress
2. Parents taking responsibility for their children and educating them -- bridging the achievement gap
3. Black children all across the world can achieve whatever they want to achieve if they just work hard, educate themselves, believe in themselves and treat people with respect
4. All peoples in this land are God's people and we are here together to take care of the land and do God's work.
5. This moment should not be the last and not to just take this moment for a novelty but to get out there and work for the greater good.
6. Conservatives, liberals and everyone in between have more in common than different and should work together on those things that are held in common.
President Obama will change the world. We need to get behind him in order for him to make it happen.

Stephane MOT (guest)
author :

I expect him to make a clear warning to both Israel and Hamas. To let both know that change is coming in the way the US are dealing with the Middle East, and that Israel cannot make the same mistakes as the US 6 years ago.

vincent gibson (guest)
modern guide , NY:

In the gospel according to Star Trek. Mankind got it together, stopped wars and the pursuit of power, rendered excessive wealth and pityless poverty to history and overcame hunger and disease all because of first contact with aliens.
Vulcans to be precise.
If this is what it takes then the sooner they get here the better.
Rght now - as we lurch from crisis to bloodbath and back again- would be great timing.
With this in mind I was thinking to myself wouldn't it be great if the new president took the stand on inauguration day raised his hands, parted his fingers and announced "Live Long and Prosper"

Bill Orton (guest)
lawmaker's aide , CA:

Confidence in the American people. Optimism about a brighter day. Belief in the greatness of this nation. Certainty that we are up to any challenge. Determination that no foe shall usurp the moment. In short, that magical blend of words, tone and spirit that transcend the moment and uplift our people, now and into the future. -- And thank you, President Bush, for the graciousness by which you've greeted this transition. In tough times, as in all times, we have only one President at a time, and thank you, sir, for embracing the will and spirit of the American people.

Michael Davis (guest)
Truck Driver , LA:

This may sound somewhat "naive" and maybe over simplistic but, my thoughts on Obama's speech is, why not wait until he gives his speech to find out what he's going to say??? Now a days, it seems the norm for media to "speculate" on a coming speech. "What is speculated as to what will be said", "it's assumed the topics should include this","certain topics can not be left out", "he had better include this", the statements I've read this past week go on and on. As I said, why not simply wait until the speech is made THEN make your comments regarding WHAT WAS ACTUALLY SAID!!!

Stephen Mormino (guest)
Union Roofer , IL:

He will begin the process of giving WE THE PEOLE a Goverment that is affordable and accountable to the PEOPLE. Thank you George Bush would you shut the door as you leave.

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The Arena is a cross-party, cross-discipline forum for intelligent and lively conversation about political and policy issues. Contributors have been selected by POLITICO staff and editors. David Mark, Arena's moderator, is a Senior Editor at POLITICO. Each morning, POLITICO sends a question based on that day's news to all contributors.